Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast with Ryosuke Imai - World Aquatics Masters Ambassador for Fukuoka 2023 and Masters Swimming WR Holder

Considering heading to Japan for the Masters World Aquatics Championships this year? Want to hear all the inside information from a Fukuoka native? Well go no further!

Ryosuke Imai joined us on the Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast today to update us on everything happening in Fukuoka for the biggest Masters Swimming event since the pandemic. 

And if you are anything like me, you will enjoy hearing about all the logistics of places to stay, eat and sightsee along the way. 

What can we expect in Fukuoka? Listen to my chat with Ryo to find out all bout that, and how his own swimming is tracking as well.

Connect with Ryo:
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Transcript

Danielle Spurling: 0:06

Hello Swimmers and welcome to another episode of Torpedo Swim Talk podcast. I'm your host, Danielle Spurling, and each week we chat to a swimmer from around the world about their swimming journey. The World Aquatics Championships will be held in Fukuoka later in the year And on today's podcast we speak to Masters Ambassador for those championships, Fukuoka native Ryosuke Imai. Rio was one of our, or is one of our, first return guests on the podcast, last being on in 2021. So let's find out what Rio's been up to since then. 

Hi Rio, welcome back to the podcast.

Ryosuke Imai: 0:58

Yeah, it's nice to be back over here. Thank you very much for inviting.

Danielle Spurling: 1:02

Oh, you're welcome. You are my first return guest, actually, and you came on at the end of 2021, i think, right.

Ryosuke Imai: 1:09

Well, I made a history right now, right.

Danielle Spurling: 1:11

Yeah, yeah, you're making history on Torpedo Swim Talk. It's fantastic, Awesome. What have you been up to with your swimming since we last spoke?

Ryosuke Imai: 1:20

Well, like, i have been swimming and running and I'm coaching My relationship with swimming is mainly coaching at the moment I've been coaching across Asia and I've been coaching in this like one year program powered by the World Aquatics Masters Organizing Committee. Sorry, i like you know, since they changed their name, i need to kind of get it, yeah, but yeah, i've been like teaching a bunch of like a local swimming as masters, swimmers, so that like they're going to be ready for the world masters And at the same time, i'm trying to like speak some English in a lesson so that, like you know, they're going to be ready for you guys. Yeah, the swimmer is the best. You know what I mean.

Danielle Spurling: 2:11

Yes, are the people that you're coaching. have they had much of a swimming background in masters, or are they just completely new to masters?

Ryosuke Imai: 2:20

Well, i've been coaching like a wide range of people somewhere like really experienced Some you know, some has like it's like a taken part in the like previous world masters, but somewhere like even like not a swimmer, they would like to kind of like join swimming community.

Danielle Spurling: 2:39

Yeah, And I noticed today that you were a. now well, I know that you've been this in this role for a little while, but it was announced that you are an ambassador for the World Aquatics Championships in Masters Swimming in Fuukouka. What were your role? What were you doing that role?

Ryosuke Imai: 2:55

Well, i have been playing a role for relaying the information that the organizing committee wants me to send out. So, yeah, it should be like some practical information. It starts off like with like practical information regarding the swim meets, then we're going to move on to like some touristic information. So in a few months, like I'm going to be, like you know, sending out quite a few information, so I'm sticking.

Danielle Spurling: 3:27

Yeah, Yeah, I noticed that you've been flitting around Asia. You've been doing some coaching in Hong Kong as well, I think have you.

Ryosuke Imai: 3:34

Oh, yes, I love Hong Kong.

Danielle Spurling: 3:36

Yeah, yeah. And is that still training a group of Masters Swimmers that will compete in Japan this year?

Ryosuke Imai: 3:42

Yes, they're really enthusiastic and I love going to Hong Kong. I love meeting new and old friends in a swimming community and it's just like I keep expanding and I love it And I have been, like you know, dealing with a bunch of like Taiwanese swimmers as well.

Danielle Spurling: 4:03

Oh, okay, yes, Okay. So will you get many competitors from Taiwan and Hong Kong coming to Japan?

Ryosuke Imai: 4:11

That's how I feel it. So yeah, fingers crossed like there'll be like more swimmers from like Hong Kong, taiwan, those like East Asian regions.

Danielle Spurling: 4:21

Yeah, how many Masters Swimmers have you got in Japan?

Ryosuke Imai: 4:25

Well, we've got about, like you know, 50,000 plus, I think 50,000 plus. Yes.

Danielle Spurling: 4:32

Wow.

Ryosuke Imai: 4:33

It's a big community.

Danielle Spurling: 4:34

It's a big yes, Big community.

Ryosuke Imai: 4:36

Yes.

Danielle Spurling: 4:37

Yeah, so the cutoff for Fukuoka for competitors is for swimming, is 6,000, i think isn't it. So people are better getting pretty quick.

Ryosuke Imai: 4:47

Yes, and this is going to be our first like what Masters since COVID. So like, if you haven't registered yet, you should like as soon as possible.

Danielle Spurling: 4:59

Absolutely. I know the. I mean the entries are open for a little while, but it will probably fill up pretty quickly.

Ryosuke Imai: 5:05

Yes.

Danielle Spurling: 5:06

And tell us a little bit about the location of the open water race, because that's a little bit. Is that out of the city or is it around the bay of Fukuoka?

Ryosuke Imai: 5:16

Okay, well, it's around the bay, like we have, like this beach area called Momonchi, and open water swimming is going to be held over there. That's a nice area, but the water is a bit like dirty, so you might want to be prepared for it.

Danielle Spurling: 5:30

A little bit dirty, is it?

Ryosuke Imai: 5:31

Yeah, what I mean? like you know, the thing is like Fukuoka has, like this peninsula, so the water doesn't really flow once it goes in. Does it make sense? So, like the water is not going to be like crystal clear, but it's going to be good enough to swim, i'd say.

Danielle Spurling: 5:49

Yeah, What's the? what will the temperature of the water be at that time of the year?

Ryosuke Imai: 5:54

Um, i'd say like 20, 20 to 25, so it should be really good. Yeah, it might be even like too hot, you know. so, like you might want to be prepared for it, get you know, like like a hydrangea yourself, and get yourself, like you know, ready for it.

Danielle Spurling: 6:13

How is Fukuoka, as a city, getting ready to welcome so many people? because you're going to have what? 10,000 visitors all at once.

Ryosuke Imai: 6:22

Yes, so Fukuoka is like an Asia's, like a gateway city and it's fast growing. So we have like more accommodations than actually like three years ago. So we're more ready to welcome you guys in a sense. So more accommodations, so do not worry. Unfortunately, the organizing committee decided not to provide swimmers with like a free run transportation, so we might have to fix our own, like you know, like a transportation to the venue.

Danielle Spurling: 7:00

Right, so there won't be any provided buses between the venues.

Ryosuke Imai: 7:06

I mean like we were still negotiating and there might be like some, but like mainly, we're going to have to like take like a public transportation. We have to pay for it.

Danielle Spurling: 7:15

And what's the public transportation system like?

Ryosuke Imai: 7:19

Well, like, once you download the app, like a free I mean, how do you say it? there's, like you know, electric money kind of thing. You don't really have to like, you know, have a cash or anything, so like, yeah, i highly recommend you guys to like download the e-cash, i think you know.

Danielle Spurling: 7:35

Alright, yes, okay, yeah, so it'll just be on your phone and then does that. What's that app called?

Ryosuke Imai: 7:42

Suika, s-u-i-c-a, i think, or Nimo-ka, which is N-I-M-O-C-A, i believe.

Danielle Spurling: 7:56

And does that have all the schedules on there?

Ryosuke Imai: 7:59

Well, it doesn't really have it like. It's just like an e-cash, so like you can.

Danielle Spurling: 8:03

I was just an e-card.

Ryosuke Imai: 8:05

But you know, fukuoka's grant transportation is like really out of bounds. So like, yeah, you don't really have to wait, it just comes like in every like in six minutes or so. But it's just that, like the people don't really speak English, so you might want to download some like Japanese translation apps or whatever as well.

Danielle Spurling: 8:23

Yeah, that's a good tip, i think, because I think, yeah, i'm sure that Japanese people are extraordinarily friendly and everyone coming may not speak Japanese, so it is a really important thing to be able to communicate and thankfully, we have that now at our fingertips, on our phones.

Ryosuke Imai: 8:41

Yes, and you know we have two venues if we are swimmers. So we have Marine Message, the main venue, and Nishi Civic Pool. We haven't really found out, like, who is going to be swimming in Nishi Civic Pool and who is going to be swimming in the main venue. But if you are to be swimming in a Nishi Civic Pool, the grant transportation is going to be a bit tricky. You're going to have to take subway to the closest station and organizing committees considering, like providing a shuttle bus from there to the venue, but it's quite far from the heart of like in Fukuoka. So, yeah, so, like if you were to be swimming in that Nishi Civic Pool, give yourself, like enough time to travel.

Danielle Spurling: 9:32

And will there be other pools open for training beforehand, or is it mainly just those two pools?

Ryosuke Imai: 9:38

Again, the conversation has been like still undergoing. So like there are quite a few like in the public swimming pools yet like I'm not sure, like if they are going to be open for us. Like you know, like a lot of massive swimmers. Yeah, they might have like some lane hire and stuff, but we're not sure yet. There are like private swimming pools but like you are, you have to be the member, so you have to have the membership. So like I'm not even sure, like if you could actually like gonna have the access to those. I mean, like I personally like in around a swim club down in Nakuma City so like, yeah, i'm thinking of like all coming like in some of my friends who are competing at the water masses, but yeah like you might want to like contact like whoever like you know and has the access to the pool so they can help you.

Danielle Spurling: 10:34

And once, because a lot of people will fly into Tokyo what's the best way to get down to Fukuoka? Is it flying or is it fast train, or what's the best way?

Ryosuke Imai: 10:45

I think flying would be the best, the easiest as well. You fly into Tokyo or Osaka and there are always like direct flights to Fukuoka. It's gonna be about like two hours.

Danielle Spurling: 10:59

How long is it on the fast train?

Ryosuke Imai: 11:02

Five hours.

Danielle Spurling: 11:02

Five hours. Yes, it's from Tokyo. Yes, It's a bit different. yes, does the fast train stop along the way, or is it just a one journey? It does.

Ryosuke Imai: 11:13

It does, it stops, like Nagoya, kyoto, osaka, hiroshima, those places. So, yeah, if you are like interested in like, you know, stopping by and like check out those cities, that would be kind of cool to like take bullet train. But if you would like to get ready for the swim meet and just like a kind of like a stretch as soon as you get into Japan, i highly recommend you guys to like a flight into Japan. I mean flight into Fukuoka.

Danielle Spurling: 11:45

Yeah, maybe people can catch the bullet train after they've competed. Good way to see Japan.

Ryosuke Imai: 11:52

Right, and have you ever heard of like Japan Rail Pass?

Danielle Spurling: 11:56

Yes, yeah.

Ryosuke Imai: 11:58

So if you actually purchase that, like you know, you could actually, like you know, take any sort of like a train for that the period of time. So, yeah, you could actually like take like bullet train the places you would like to go after the meet. So, yeah, you might want to come to go that.

Danielle Spurling: 12:19

That's good advice. Back to your swimmers that you're coaching. How many sessions are you working with them each week?

Ryosuke Imai: 12:28

It's actually like twice a month. So, yeah, they basically like a train on their own, but like, yeah, twice a month we just kind of gather and like do some high quality training. Yeah, me and my colleague, chiaki Ishibashi, who used to be a London Olympian, yeah, we're the coaches and we're like a training swimmer. It's really hard.

Danielle Spurling: 12:52

Yeah, well, look out everyone else. Hey, so you mentioned that you're spending a lot of time running at the moment. Are you managing to fit any swimming training in at all?

Ryosuke Imai: 13:05

Oh, yes, i try to swim like as much as I can. So I've been swimming at least like once a week. I'm not sure if it's enough for the world of masses, but yeah, i still enjoy swimming. but then, yeah, covid actually, like it changed the way of like me approaching sports. So I just, you know, took like a marathon as like a new challenge and I like it a lot. So I, yeah, i'm trying to like do both. You know what I mean. I'd like to like call myself a swimmer but at the same time I'd like to enjoy a marathon. I just, like you know, finish my second marathon ever a couple of weeks ago.

Danielle Spurling: 13:47

Oh wow, congratulations, Thank you, it's fun. Have you, have you done the Tokyo marathon?

Ryosuke Imai: 13:54

No, like the tickets, like you know, platinum, you have to be lucky, you know? I mean like you need to like win the lottery, to like run the marathon. It's actually, like you know, happening this weekend, but, yeah, i'm going to be watching you.

Danielle Spurling: 14:10

Yeah, that's fantastic. Yes, and when you do hit the water, how far would you typically swim in a session?

Ryosuke Imai: 14:19

Well, i used to swim at least like a 3000 just to get back in shape, but now I can really busy. So I got yeah, i just kind of keep it within like 2K range. Yeah, so 2K or less.

Danielle Spurling: 14:34

And what would your session be made up of now with the 2K session?

Ryosuke Imai: 14:41

I wish I could just kind of like talk about specific stuff And I know like my swimmers are listening, so like I need to kind of like you know, say I'm doing this and that. but I'm actually like just like doing some freestyle, just a stretch and a bit of breaststroke to remember what I. you know who I was before.

Danielle Spurling: 15:01

So will you enter some races for the world world championship?

Ryosuke Imai: 15:04

Oh yes, of course I'm thinking of like an entry in 50 and 100 meters breaststroke. Yeah, i might not be in a good shape, but I would like to enjoy it and I would like to focus more on hosting you guys, welcoming you guys, making sure that you guys are having a good time and you know things like that.

Danielle Spurling: 15:27

Obviously getting around Fukuoka on public transport. Is there any sort of places that you can recommend people, not hotels, but areas where they might find it easiest to be between the two pools, because you said there's a little bit more hassle getting to Marine. No, not Marine, mess, the civic Nashi pool.

Ryosuke Imai: 15:48

I just say Kenjin, that's the heart of the city and it's the financial area. There will be like a bunch of hotels around that area and you have like the easiest access to the venues, even including the the Momochee Beach where the open water is going to be held.

Danielle Spurling: 16:07

So how far is Momochee Beach from Marine Miss?

Ryosuke Imai: 16:11

Marine. Miss, if you drive, it'll be about like 10 to 15 minutes, but if you are to like take transportation, I'd say like 20 minutes to half an hour.

Danielle Spurling: 16:29

And a taxi and Uber drivers, sort of prevalent in Fukuoka.

Ryosuke Imai: 16:35

Oh yeah, there'll be like a bunch of them, but you have to be aware of the fact that we don't speak English as our first language, So you might want to have like the card that says the address or the name of the and they'll take you without like a speaking. They might try to like speak English with you guys, but it might be an interesting experience and it might be like a bit frustrated. Before you go race it Yeah, make sure you do it after it, you know, after you.

Danielle Spurling: 17:08

So what's the general vibe in Fukuoka? Are people looking forward to hosting these world championships?

Ryosuke Imai: 17:14

Yeah, you know, like it's getting more and more viral thanks to the OCs, like an effort internally, i mean domestically. We have now that, like we have more people, like you know, interested in participating in the meet as like a volunteers And like in a willing to help you guys, yeah. So like, yeah, i mean I'm sure like by the time you get here on Fukuoka, it's like a soil, the atmosphere, the vibe is going to be great.

Danielle Spurling: 17:45

It sounds really exciting and I've been looking a little bit online as to places to go out and eat. It looks like there's beautiful food options available as well.

Ryosuke Imai: 17:56

Yes, and you have to remember that we have the Tom Kotsu Ramen, the famous Tom Kotsu Ramen. You know pork broth, so Fukuoka is the original place for the pork broth and a lot of the Ramen are really famous over here, so you will enjoy it. And for those who are from Muslim countries, we do have a Harah Ramen as well. Yes so everybody should be able to enjoy the food that we offer.

Danielle Spurling: 18:30

Yes, it sounds lovely, Really looking forward to it. And back to what you're doing with your exercise. I know that last time you spoke a little bit about your strength work. Are you still doing quite a few strength programs each week, dry land work each week?

Ryosuke Imai: 18:47

Yes, i make sure that I hit the gym twice a week. The workout routine has a bit different than when we last spoke, but I'm still focusing on my dry land training.

Danielle Spurling: 19:03

What are your top three exercises that you do in your dry land? Can you share those with us?

Ryosuke Imai: 19:09

Oh yeah, i love doing pull ups, a series of pull ups. So we do pull ups eight times, chin ups six times and hammer grit pull ups four times And we do it twice, or something like that. Yeah, i'm still single, so I have to kind of keep it in shape. I also do squats. Since I do breaststroke, my legs should be really strong, so I do Olympic lifting, but squatting is really important.

Danielle Spurling: 19:44

Yes, and what about the third exercise? What else would you recommend?

Ryosuke Imai: 19:49

Okay, well, yeah, that kind of relates to squat, but after doing that, like barbell squat, i do an overhead squat as well. We have kinetic chain, so in order for you to translate your strength into a proportion in the water, you really have to work on your kinetic chain. So I always make sure that I have full body workout after doing a bit of an Olympic lifting.

Danielle Spurling: 20:15

Yes, So you always do your strength work first and then do cardio type stuff after that, do you?

Ryosuke Imai: 20:23

Yeah, cardio and a bit of like how do you say it like a full body training.

Danielle Spurling: 20:29

So like functional training.

Ryosuke Imai: 20:30

Yes, Yes, functional training yes.

Danielle Spurling: 20:33

Yeah, it's got different names around the world, isn't it?

Ryosuke Imai: 20:40

Right, yeah, a lot of the information is out. So, like you know, it's hard to like name it. I mean, like I'm trying to like evade my body, like you know a little bit better. Yeah, and do you?

Danielle Spurling: 20:54

ever do any sort of yoga or Pilates type or flexibility stretching, anything like that.

Ryosuke Imai: 21:00

I think I should do it, but I haven't started yet.

Danielle Spurling: 21:06

As a breast-stroke. Can you sit on the floor with your knees out and your feet out?

Ryosuke Imai: 21:11

I used to be, i'm not sure I haven't really tried in a long time. But I hope I can do it. you know, i guess like I'm going to try it like after this jump.

Danielle Spurling: 21:21

Yeah, i've seen a thing that going around on YouTube where people sit like that, swimmers with their arms up in a streamline and then they, without touching their hands on the ground, they push up to standing.

Ryosuke Imai: 21:33

I see, well, that's impressive. I'm not sure if I can do it.

Danielle Spurling: 21:36

Yeah, i see.

Ryosuke Imai: 21:39

Yeah Well, by the time, like I see you in person, i'm sure like I'll be able to do it. Oh, okay, i'm going to take practice, yeah, And with the swimmers that you're coaching.

Danielle Spurling: 21:49

When you see them, what did you say? twice a month, how far do they go in a session that you're taking? So how far would they typically swim?

Ryosuke Imai: 21:58

Okay, well, i make sure, like you know, they swim within 2,000 range Because, again, like we have like a wide range of people, So some just started swimming. So, like you know, they're not going to be able to take like like a long distance set. Yeah, 2,000 for less, but I make sure, like you know, it's challenging enough for them.

Danielle Spurling: 22:21

What's a typical set that you would give them for their main set.

Ryosuke Imai: 22:26

There is no typical set because, like, i always like change the theme and the workout So like no practice is the same. But yeah, at the end of the session I try to like have them do like a bit of like a sprinting work, say like 425s with like a long interval, So they can just like kind of push themselves to the limit. Yeah, so things like that.

Danielle Spurling: 22:56

And so that's at the end of the session. I know you don't give them the same set every time. The last time you saw them, what was the main set?

Ryosuke Imai: 23:06

Well, it was like 50 metres, like all out. Then you take like a 4-minute rest and 125 sprint, Yeah. So like you know, they need to get used to swimming in long coasts And unfortunately the food cocoa is not going to have like any long-coast meters pool until the World Championships because it'll be all closed for elites. So like we're trying to like come up with the idea of like how they could like swim in the long coast comfortably without swimming long-coast meters. I hope it makes sense.

Danielle Spurling: 23:52

Yeah, that makes sense.

Ryosuke Imai: 23:54

Yeah. So like I need to kind of like tie them up first, then they're going to like sprint again, so that like their body is like kind of used the stimuli.

Danielle Spurling: 24:06

So if they do the 50, you have 4 minutes rest. Do a 25. How many times would they do that through?

Ryosuke Imai: 24:11

Just once, but then it's just a showcase of like training, so like they can actually like take those sets home and maybe like do it twice or three times when they're like ready.

Danielle Spurling: 24:24

And so where do they travel in from all around, or just are they all residents in Fukuoka?

Ryosuke Imai: 24:31

Well, they are just from Fukuoka, but Fukuoka is not small, so like, yeah, some are actually like traveling for about an hour to get to the pool.

Danielle Spurling: 24:42

What's the population of Fukuoka?

Ryosuke Imai: 24:45

A million and a half.

Danielle Spurling: 24:47

Yeah, so it's, and is it quite spread out?

Ryosuke Imai: 24:49

Yes, it is.

Danielle Spurling: 24:51

It sounds like such a lovely place. The pictures I've seen look spectacular And I suppose being right around the on the water, on the bay makes it really nice to be around that area.

Ryosuke Imai: 25:03

It's really modern and compact. So like it only takes about like six minutes from the airport to the Hakaka Station, which is like a main station, and ten minutes to the Tenjin area, the Haru Tenjin, the Haru Fukuoka. So like, once you get used to taking subways, you're gonna have a great time. Everything is really close to each other.

Danielle Spurling: 25:32

And how is the city dealing with sort of the rebound from COVID? Are people generally still wearing masks as they walk around?

Ryosuke Imai: 25:41

Yes, wearing masks is still kind of I would call it like a mandatory And even though, like the government is encouraging us to take off our masks while walking outside, it's always like in this societal pressure, like the Japanese people are like good or bad, like really collective, so like we really have to kind of like kind of take time and get used to a new idea. So like once the government says that we don't have to wear a mask, give us like, say, three months, then we're gonna start taking off the mask.

Danielle Spurling: 26:22

Right.

Ryosuke Imai: 26:23

But it's okay because, like, it's only March, right? So, like, by the time you guys arrive, we'll be all fine. But yeah yeah, since like a travel restriction is like no longer out. here there are a lot of international travelers, i see like a bunch of them mainly like Korea, hong Kong and Taiwan. I think, yes, i do see quite a few people from the West as well. So, yeah, we're like really happy to have you guys And it's gotta be an awesome in the summer.

Danielle Spurling: 26:59

What are you personally looking forward to the most with the whole world championships?

Ryosuke Imai: 27:06

Well, mainly the reunion. Reunion Cause, like swimming is like one big community And we consider ourselves family, right, so I'm so looking forward to like seeing my family members in person. That's it. Yeah, i used to like to focus more on like my own swimming, but like I've kind of like decided to like dedicate my swimming experience in Korea to the community. So, yeah, it'd be nice if I could actually like help swimmers to better for better experiences.

Danielle Spurling: 27:48

Yeah, i think that's lovely, a lovely sentiment. I think you are doing that with the people that you're coaching and then hopefully, they're taking those ideas back to their own little masters clubs or squads that they're swimming with. And that'll certainly strengthen Japanese master swimming.

Ryosuke Imai: 28:10

Well, i'd like to be their help. I mean, i'd like to like to make a contribution because, like, not many people actually like understand English over here, so me being able to like understand English would be a good help for them. So like, yeah, i mean it's gonna be great and I'm gonna make sure that, like, we're gonna have a great time, but at the same time, what masters and what masters community is gonna continue even more Master's community is gonna continue even after Fukuoka. So I'd like to keep on going and I'd like to keep on growing with you guys.

Danielle Spurling: 28:44

Yes, yeah, absolutely.

Ryosuke Imai: 28:46

Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 28:47

What do you think about the change to the name World Aquatics from what it used to be, which was FINA?

Ryosuke Imai: 28:53

It's a bit like in a more difficult to pronounce from my perspective.

Danielle Spurling: 28:57

Is it Okay? That's long.

Ryosuke Imai: 28:59

Oh, that's great because, like you know, it's World Aquatics. I mean, like you know, everybody can understand it. You don't even have to be a swimmer to understand, like you know, what we're doing. So, yeah, i'm sure, like the name is gonna suit. I mean, you know like, since, like we grew up with the name of Fina, it takes a bit of, like you know, time to get used to it. But, yeah, once like it. yeah, give it a time and then I'll be totally fine And I think I like the name.

Danielle Spurling: 29:29

Yeah, i quite like the name. I really didn't even know what Fina stood for Federation international, something, something.

Ryosuke Imai: 29:38

Right right. I mean some of it is kind of cool, but yeah. I mean word aquatics is like a more articulate dataset.

Danielle Spurling: 29:44

Yeah, I think so. I know. I was at the World Short Course Championships in Melbourne just before Christmas And that's when they announced that World Aquatics that will be the new name, And I thought the speech that they made there was that it was going to be one like one family, not So all of the aquatic disciplines in together, so that it's sort of more inclusive, which is a nice way of moving forward.

Ryosuke Imai: 30:12

Mm-hmm, that's great.

Danielle Spurling: 30:13

Yeah, really good.

Ryosuke Imai: 30:14

I wish I was there to hear that announcement.

Danielle Spurling: 30:18

Yeah, it was such a great competition. I really enjoyed watching it And the short course swimming by the elites was just superb, really, really amazing And just being. I don't know whether you got it on TV in Japan, but it's Melbourne's my home city, and it was very well received here in Australia. I mean, we're a huge swimming nation So, yeah, they had huge crowds, so it was really great. Great excitement on the pool deck.

Ryosuke Imai: 30:51

I wasn't lucky enough to watch the meet, but pretty sure like it was great.

Danielle Spurling: 30:56

Yeah, they had lots of world records broken being short course, which was good, but a lot of interestingly, a lot of breaststroke disqualification, yeah, and I think a lot of people were taken on the turn and putting in an extra dolphin kick before their breakout.

Ryosuke Imai: 31:12

I see, well, i don't think swimmers are doing it intentionally, but it's about a time for us to kind of like work on our techniques, of that, like we could swim within that like a rule.

Danielle Spurling: 31:24

How do you stop people from taking, because often that second dolphin kick in between is sort of like a natural body motion? How do you get your swimmers to stop doing that in their training?

Ryosuke Imai: 31:35

Well, like I don't really have a swimmer who does double dolphin kicks, so like I haven't really dealt with it. But yeah, it's going to be really difficult. I mean I'm going to have to take time and think of some drill to prevent that. Yeah, because even the world elites are, like you know, getting disqualified. That means, like that's how hard it is.

Danielle Spurling: 32:02

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I think it's very hard to keep your body still. But obviously some of the elites are maybe taking that streamline off the wall a little bit far, losing power. That's my sort of take on it. And then they're taking that extra movement.

Ryosuke Imai: 32:17

Well, I'd like to take a look at it on the video and see what I think.

Danielle Spurling: 32:21

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think it was the first time that actually had video referees looking at the video, so it would. sometimes the race definition would be a few minutes before it was ratified because they were looking back at the video and a lot of disqualifications from that.

Ryosuke Imai: 32:37

I see. Well, like sport is changing thanks to technology and we need to get used to it.

Danielle Spurling: 32:44

Yeah, it's moving forward, that's for sure.

Ryosuke Imai: 32:46

All right. well, like transparency is important, so it's going to be like much fair. I mean it's going to be a fair swim meet.

Danielle Spurling: 32:55

Yeah, i think so too, That's good. I think I don't know whether we did this on the last time you were on, but I now ask everyone a deep dive, fast, five questions. So I have some interesting ones for you today.

Ryosuke Imai: 33:08

OK.

Danielle Spurling: 33:10

I wondered if you could give us your favorite restaurant in Fukuoka.

Ryosuke Imai: 33:15

Favorite restaurant, depending on what kind of food you like, but I have quite a few of them in places, And the one is called Hayakawa. Yeah, that ramen place is awesome. It was, like you know, just like you know, introduced on Japanese media as well. But once you get here, you need to go Hayakawa ramen.

Danielle Spurling: 33:36

OK, and is it just takeaway, or can you be seated and eat there?

Ryosuke Imai: 33:42

You can be seated And, yeah, you can eat out there, But make sure like you get there early so that you get seated. That place is really popular. So, like you know, you might have to, like you have to queue up. So like, yeah, I mean, if you don't have a swim meet, just like, wake up a bit earlier than like usual, go to that ramen place and have ramen as the first thing.

Danielle Spurling: 34:08

And if you were taking someone around Fukuoka, what would be your favorite place to take them to sightsee? What's the top of the list?

Ryosuke Imai: 34:16

OK, i normally take my friends to Dazai-fu Shrine. It's a historical shrine And it's huge and very, very beautiful. You see, like a Japanese garden, and you know, like those how do you say it, tori? You know, like the red, like kind of gate thing like the Japanese Sinto structures have. So yeah, that place is awesome.

Danielle Spurling: 34:43

Yeah, so that's number one.

Ryosuke Imai: 34:44

Yeah, yeah, that's number one.

Danielle Spurling: 34:47

And if you were telling one of your friends about your favorite day trip destination, that they could get to and back in a day from Fukuoka, where would it be?

Ryosuke Imai: 34:59

You could actually, like you know, drive to Kumamoto for a day, like a hot spring. So, yeah, if you have like a whole day, i highly recommend you guys to, like you know, take a train or, like you know, even rent a car. You go to like Kumamoto or Kume even Kume is like where my swim employers But yeah, for hot spring.

Danielle Spurling: 35:23

Oh nice, Yeah, that would be nice relaxation.

Ryosuke Imai: 35:26

Very good.

Danielle Spurling: 35:28

Yeah, are they mineral hot springs.

Ryosuke Imai: 35:30

Yes, and good food.

Danielle Spurling: 35:34

Oh, okay, also good. And when you actually do get to the pool to do some training, what's your favourite breaststroke drill?

Ryosuke Imai: 35:41

I like doing one kick, one pull and one kick glide. Yeah, it used to be like two kicks and one pull, but I tried to like break it down. It's like one kick, one pull breaststroke and one kick.

Danielle Spurling: 35:58

And how does that help you with your stroke?

Ryosuke Imai: 36:02

That will keep my hip position quite high. I actually learned that from one of the YouTube sources, i think James Gibson, the coach. James Gibson was giving his swimmers and I tried it and I liked it.

Danielle Spurling: 36:17

And I know you're not doing as much swimming as you used to. But when you did a little bit more swimming, what was your favourite training set that you used to give yourself?

Ryosuke Imai: 36:26

Okay, well, i don't know if I would, if I should call it like my favourite, but I usually do like eight 100s on 120, that's freestyle, and eight 100s I am on 130. And eight 100s on 140 breaststroke. Yeah, it's really difficult actually, but, like you know, i feel like I've done something after that.

Danielle Spurling: 36:56

Yeah, I understand. I like those kind of sets myself.

Ryosuke Imai: 36:59

Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 37:00

Did you take it? do you take a rest break between each eight or is it straight through?

Ryosuke Imai: 37:06

Take a minute break in between.

Danielle Spurling: 37:09

Yeah.

Ryosuke Imai: 37:11

Yes, yeah, like I wish I could spend more time in the water, but then I usually swim between work, so it's really important that I can get out of the water as quickly as I can. So like those sets would be like really good because you get them like yatties or like mileage whatever. Yeah, like you can get out of the pool within like an hour.

Danielle Spurling: 37:36

Yeah, that's a quick set back to work.

Ryosuke Imai: 37:39

Yes, you know, we are masters, We have to. you have to like work.

Danielle Spurling: 37:43

That's exactly right. Well, Rio, thank you so much for joining us back on the podcast today. It's been really lovely touching base with you and I can't wait to see you in Fukuoka later in the year.

Ryosuke Imai: 37:55

Yeah, thank you very much for having me again. And I hope, like you guys, got something out of my talk and I'm looking forward to welcoming you guys in Fukuoka.

Danielle Spurling: 38:05

Yeah, I think there'll be a lot of people looking you up.

Ryosuke Imai: 38:08

Alrighty, I'm looking forward to it.

Danielle Spurling: 38:10

Okay see you later. Bye, bye, thank you, bye. Thanks for joining us on the podcast today. I hope you enjoyed my chat with Rio And that it's wet your appetite for heading to Japan in August this year. If you haven't had a chance to check out our new and revamped training page on our website, give it a look. We've got a number of training sessions, sets and drills from all of our guests and it's being updated all the time. You can find all their favorite workouts under the performance tag at wwwtorpedoswimtalkcom. Until next time, happy swimming and bye. For now,